Radio Free Albemuth (2010)

Berkeley record store clerk Nick Brady (Jonathan Scarfe) begins to experience strange visions from an entity he calls VALIS that cause him to uproot his family and move to Los Angeles where... See full summary »

Director:

John Alan Simon

Writers:

John Alan Simon (screenplay), Philip K. Dick (novel)

Stars:

Jonathan Scarfe, Shea Whigham, Katheryn Winnick

Cast

Credited cast:
Jonathan Scarfe	...	Nicholas Brady
Shea Whigham	...	Phil
Katheryn Winnick	...	Rachel Brady
Alanis Morissette	...	Sylvia
Hanna Hall	...	Vivian Kaplan
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Elyse Ashton	...	Waitress
Carol Avery	...	Jan
Tom Beyer	...	Presidential Aide
Nancy Linehan Charles
Joseph Cintron	...	Prisoner
Frank Collison	...	Leon
Scott Cordts	...	Body #4
Mason Vale Cotton	...	Ezra
Maxwell Perry Cotton	...	Young Nick
Robert Dolan	...	Police Guard

Storyline

Berkeley record store clerk Nick Brady (Jonathan Scarfe) begins to experience strange visions from an entity he calls VALIS that cause him to uproot his family and move to Los Angeles where he becomes a successful music company executive. With the help of best friend, science-fiction writer Philip K. Dick himself (Shea Whigam) and a mysterious woman named Silvia (Alanis Morissette), Nick finds himself drawn into a dangerous political-mystical conspiracy of cosmic proportions. The story is set in an alternate reality America circa 1985 under the authoritarian control of President Fremont, a Nixon-like clone (Scott Wilson).

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Plot Keywords:

president | writer | alternate reality | friend | vision | 

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Genres:

Drama | Sci-Fi

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 February 2010 (USA)

Filming Locations:

24/7 Productions, 1413 Cole, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,600,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Open Pictures, Radio Free, Broadstroke Entertainment

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Colin Farrell was a frequent visitor to the set to visit his friend Shea Whigham during filming.

User Reviews

The first film to really capture the work of Philip K. Dick

While previous adaptations of the work of the late, great Philip K. Dick have often been enjoyable, none has really taken a great deal from the original source stories beyond the most perfunctory aspects of the plot.

Radio Free Albemuth, while not sticking slavishly to every letter of the original text, is the first adaptation to really capture the spirit and convey the substance of Dick's work. Although this film does not have the high tech sheen of the more celebrated films to be taken from Dick's writing, it is every bit as gripping and exciting as the best of them, but also retains the intelligence, and political thought that previously has tended to go missing in translating Dick from page to screen.

John Alan Simon has written an exemplary screenplay and matched it with strong direction. The acting performances are also fine throughout.

I saw this at the Sci-Fi London film festival and got the distinct impression that I was not alone in my enthusiasm for this movie.